12 presentations a year on Person-Centered Approach

Person-Centered Approach is confusing

Whenever I write something, the name is the thing that bothers me the most. The school of thought known as ‘humanistic’ is well known in the counselling industry, and many counsellors consider it the foundation of their work. However, humanistic is such a broad concept that it can actually be used to describe Gestalt psychology, narrative therapy, existential psychology, and even Buddhism. Generally speaking, as long as a certain ideology believes in the potential for human growth, values subjective human experience, emphasises free will and responsibility, and considers the human being to be an indivisible whole, then this ideology can be broadly described as humanistic. Therefore, humanism is actually such a broad term that it is often of little value. It is like if we were to call some clever quadrupedal mammal a pig, but in real life, the question we often need to solve is: ‘Which pig?’

Strictly speaking, if a counsellor believes that they agree with Carl Rogers’ theory and that the key to counselling lies in the counsellor’s empathy for the client, acceptance, the counsellor’s own consistency, and the ability to convey empathy and acceptance in the relationship, then the counsellor is not just agreeing with the mammal known as “human”, but with the specific pig known as Person-Centered Therapy.

Sometimes Person-Centered Therapy can be really confusing. Carl Rogers’ behaviour was often the subject of ridicule. For example, the behaviourist B.F. Skinner once made a story up to mock Rogers during a conference when they were talking. He said that Rogers went out hunting and shot a duck, and was very happy about it. When he went over to pick up the duck, another man came over and insisted that the duck was his. Skinner describes it: ‘Dr Rogers looked the man earnestly in the eye and said, “Hmm, you think this duck is yours. ”’

These apparently joking stories nevertheless reflect people’s view of the Person-Centered approach. Many people find the approach so incomprehensible. For example, why do you just seem to repeat what the client says, and that’s called counselling? The concept of the Person-Centered approach is also difficult to understand. Many people ask me: if the counsellor is to be ‘genuinely congruent’, does that mean that they have to be genuinely impatient and dislike the client when they are with them? Or does it mean that the counsellor really has to let the client know everything about their story, their attitudes, their thoughts? What if these thoughts hurt the client?

Others are puzzled by the concept of ‘unconditional positive attention’. There was a long time when people misunderstood this to mean unconditional attention to the positive aspects. This misunderstanding seems to have become less common recently, but more and more people are beginning to question: can unconditional love really exist? Or: if counselling requires payment, isn’t that conditional? There is also a lot of confusion about empathy. For example, the counsellors I supervise often ask me, what should I do if I really can’t understand the person? Others feel that empathy is exhausting and they can’t sustain it.

I increasingly feel that these questions are not easily answered in a question-and-answer format. For example, the question ‘Is empathy enough?’ If one understands the overall context of the Person-Centered theory, one will know that empathy is only one of the six sufficient and necessary conditions, so of course empathy alone is not enough. So what are the other conditions? What is enough? What do those conditions mean? These questions are all interrelated and cannot be answered in a single answer. These questions may need to be answered through a series of presentations or a more comprehensive introductory course.

12 presentations a year on Person-Centered

Last month, I went back to China for vacation and watched other people dance in the square in Shenzhen with Annzo (Zhang Yalin). Then I suddenly decided to do a project to introduce Person-Centered approaches more systematically and answer some common questions. We have conceived a series that will last for a year, and it is casually called ‘12 Person-Centered Lectures in One Year’. Since it is a lecture series rather than a complete course, there are not so many requirements. We hope that participants in this project can be more flexible. You can start from the first presentation or from the middle. We will record each presentation so that those who start in the middle will not miss out on the previous content. We hope that this project can answer some common confusions and, if the conditions are right, perhaps arouse some people’s interest in Person-Centered approaches, so that they want to learn more in depth. Of course, it is also possible that our project is poorly done, which will make people even more confused or disgusted with Person-Centered approaches. Although we do not deny this possibility, that is not our intention.

We have only confirmed a clear theme for 10 of the 12 presentations. Two of the presentations will be ‘mysterious themes’. Depending on the resources available at the time, we will invite Person-Centered theorists and practitioners from around the world to give presentations, or we will form a circle of understanding. Of course, it is also possible that we will not be able to accomplish any of the above and will have to maintain the original format of the presentations. These are all possibilities.

The following is a detailed introduction to this project:

Frequency: Once a month for 12 times

Format: Online via Tencent Meeting, 2 hours each

Price: 100 RMB per single presentation. 800 RMB for all presentations (equivalent to 34% off). Due to laziness, I don’t want to do complicated calculations, so if you have attended a few presentations and want to attend the rest at once, you will still be charged 800 RMB. Participants can calculate for themselves how to get the best deal.

Participation deadline: As each presentation is recorded, participants can choose to register for all presentations in any month and still enjoy the price of 800 yuan for all presentations.

Other suggestions: Our presentations are highly interactive, and the speakers will stop from time to time to interact with the audience. So we encourage everyone to turn on the microphone or camera directly to communicate. If that is not convenient, you can also communicate in writing.

Participate: send email to info@pcia.asia

January: 25th Saturday 9am-11am

What is humanistic? What is Person-Centered?

In this presentation, we will introduce the historical and theoretical context of Person-Centered approaches. We will talk about the origins and development of Person-Centered approaches. We will give an overview of Person-Centered counselling theory, personality theory, and the unique tension between counselling theory and personality theory.

February: 22nd, Saturday, 9am-11am

What does consistency mean? Is consistency the same as authenticity?

In this lecture, we will clarify some common misconceptions. We will distinguish between the concept of consistency in Person-Centered counseling theory and the social meaning of being honest, truthful, and not lying. We will mention that consistency is not a technique or an action, but an internal state. We will also talk about how to improve consistency.

March: 22nd, Saturday, 9am-11am

Empathy

In this session, we will explore the concept of empathy

April: 26th, Saturday, 9am-11am

Unconditional positive regard and the six sufficient conditions

In this session, we will explore the concept of unconditional positive regard. We will clarify common misconceptions about ‘unconditional’ and ‘positive.’ We will also address the remaining three of the six sufficient conditions. We will talk about why it is sometimes difficult for counsellors to empathise and be congruent and to show unconditional positive attention, and why counselling is not successful, even though the counsellor does show empathy and unconditional positive attention.

May: 24th Saturday 9am-11am

Mystery theme

In the month of the mystery theme, we will invite other Person-Centered theorists and practitioners to share according to the resources available at the time, or hold a group of understanding, or maintain the original format of the presentation. The specific format and theme will be announced one month in advance.

June: 21st Saturday 9am-11am

Non-directiveness and ethical principles

This is a more in-depth topic. We will discuss the controversial topic of non-directiveness and why it is an ethical position and not just about effectiveness.

July: 26th Saturday 9am-11am

Relationships, relationships, relationships

In this lecture, we will look at the counselling relationship from the perspective of the Person-Centered approach. We will mention that the counselling relationship is a real human relationship with limitations. We will mention instrumental relationships and non-instrumental relationships.

August: 23, Saturday, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Self-disclosure and multiple relationships in counseling

How does the Person-Centered approach view the issues of self-disclosure and multiple relationships? Is there a difference from the mainstream view?

September: 27, Saturday, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Person-Centered supervision

How is supervision viewed in the Person-Centered approach? How does it differ from other schools? What is the difference between supervision and the counsellor’s own counselling?

October: 25th Saturday 9am-11am

Person-Centered counselling settings

How is the Person-Centered approach put into practice in different counselling settings? This includes duration, frequency, contact outside of counselling, family counselling, and couple counselling.

November: 22nd Saturday 9am-11am

Mystery theme

In the month of the mystery theme, we will invite other Person-Centered theorists and practitioners to share according to the resources available at the time, or hold a group of understanding, or maintain the original presentation format. The specific format and theme will be announced one month in advance.

December: 27th Saturday 9am-11am

Development and review of the Person-Centered approach

Is the Person-Centered approach suitable for everyone? Is it only suitable for people with mild psychological problems, or is it also suitable for people with severe psychological problems such as schizophrenia? We will introduce the ‘early treatment’ method specifically created for severe psychological problems in the Person-Centered approach, and discuss some serious cases and the unique contributions of Person-Centered scholar Margaret Warner in terms of psychotic visitors.